Teak

[Murry]

I'd like to glue a piece of teak to the front of my gf16. I've already purchased the wood and it's 3/4's of inch thick.

Is it flexible?

I want to glue it across this low area here...



Any pointers would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Daniel

[wadestep]

Just off the top of my head, I don't think you're going to get a 3/4" piece of teak to bend to that curve. You may need to rip in in half, joint it, and laminate 2 pieces together. Done right, the seam would be very hard to see. Even then, that's quite a curve. May need to try to steam it or something. I've never done that...
Wade

[Cracker Larry]

I agree with Wade. Teak is a stiff wood with bending properties about like oak. You'll need to laminate it to conform to that curve.

[Murry]

Hmmm.

I've got a pretty board about 6 inches x 6 feet and I want to use it.

What I was planning to do was to make a template out of cardboard, then cut the teak. Once cut I would route my edges, then I was going to bend it or warp it off the boat. To bend it I was going to attempt to clamp the wood to a similar profile for a week or so keeping the straight edge fenced up to keep it square. This may be the worst idea you've ever heard. I don't know. Made sense in my head. Think it will work? I'd rather not laminate. It would be difficult for me rip the 3/4 inch board into 1/4's for lamination.

Maybe I should have it planed down to a 1/2 to make it easier, although I like the height and thickness the 3/4 will give me once in place.

After it was glued I would just tape the wood up that I want to be left natural and fair the perimeter into the boat and paint up to the natural wood line. Does the sound about right for finishing it. I've never messed with it, but I like the way it looks on the gunnels and transoms of Sportfishers.

[Cracker Larry]

I'd say go for it and give it a try. Depending on the grain, it may bend just fine. Sure would look nice Once you cut it out, you'll have a good idea if it will make the bend. I'd secure it with screws and plug the holes with teak plugs.

[ks8]

You may need a second board to do laminates thin enough to lay up the bend in the final full thickness laminates. One good point... the lower laminates don't need to be perfectly clear... just along the edges of the final laminate. All you really need is a perfectly clear *face* on the top of the laminate. 1/8 inch laminates will take that bend and a little more (for springback), but you won't get enough layers out of that one piece, for the final thickness you want. A shop may have a thin blade bandsaw to do your laminate rips (less waste). I use a table saw to rip mahogany deck boards, and salvage all the dust for wood flour, but it does waste quite a bit of mahogany, and I have to turn the piece over to finish through from the other side, because of the limited depth of the table saw. You'll also need to give the laminates a good acetone wipedown to remove some of the natural oils for a good epoxy bond. If you try thicker laminates than 1/8 inch the tension and the natural oil combination may cause bond failure long term.

For a similar treatment, I used a thick block and cut it down to shape, in two halves, but it was relatively inexpensive Doug Fir.

It was a complex cut by hand and jig saw combination... optimized for grain pattern and tightness on top...



More shaping after bonded to the boat...



And final shaping and sanding...



What you are looking to do, with more pricey teak, I would do with 1/8 inch laminates, full width, keep the edges good and clear, and have the final top laminate be an excellent face. If the laminates flexed enough, I might even use straight epoxy between the layers, but using a jig for the proper curve, and *slightly* more for springback (depending on how easily the laminates are taking the curve). And probably oil the final piece rather than epoxy seal it. Oiled teak is wonderful. But I do not have the experience of a professional woodworker. There may be a better way. Hope that gives you more options while waiting to see other responses.

[Murry]

I'd say go for it and give it a try. Depending on the grain, it may bend just fine. Sure would look nice Once you cut it out, you'll have a good idea if it will make the bend. I'd secure it with screws and plug the holes with teak plugs.

I think I will Larry.

I pretty piece of wood should finish the bow nicely. Not to mention protecting the finish from anchor ropes. It will also serve as a nose guard.

You mentioned screws.

I was planning to glue and fair it in place to have a seamless transition from wood to paint for a real clean finish. Do you think I would still need the screws? I know that teak is very oily and i've read that it's good practice to give it an acetone wipe down before gluing, but I thought it would bond O.K.

[Murry]

Sorry, I missed you ks8, you posted as I was typing that last post.

Thanks for those great details, as usual. Beautiful work!

I think I'll experiment with a piece off the boat , but if I can get it to bend, I'll bend it more than what I'll need to acount for
the wood springing back. Thanks for that tip.

[RickW]

3/4 is pretty thick to make that bend, but I was gonna suggest trying to soak it then clamp it on something with a similar radius till it dries, then do it again until you get it all the way. Don't know how well soaking it in water will work with teak, but slowly clamping it until you get the radius is worth a try imo.

If you can get it done it'll look great on that bow. A couple coats of spar urethane and your anchor rope will wear out before the teak does. Btw, that bow looks like it could knock down an oak tree if you bounced off it.....nice. Oh, and save your saw dust when you cut the teak, if you do have to end up splicing it on, you can use it in the glue to make it match.

and ks8....that's as much artwork as boat building, that's just not fair to do work that nice.

[Murry]

Thanks for you comments ther Rick.

I'm planning to soak it, but like you, I'm not sure what it will do for me with the moisture resistance teak has.

I'm planning to just oil it right now, as small as it is, it won't be to much maintenance.

Thanks for the saw dust tip.